Miscarriage Risk in Women With High hsCRP Down With Aspirin

FRIDAY, Feb. 10, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- Daily low-dose aspirin (LDA) may increase the live birth rate for women with high levels of inflammation who previously lost a pregnancy, according to a study published online Feb. 3 in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.

The research was led by Lindsey Sjaarda, Ph.D., a staff scientist at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in Rockville, Md. Her team tracked outcomes for 1,228 women, aged 18 to 40, with a prior pregnancy loss. All women were trying to conceive, and a little more than half (55 percent) of them went on to have a live birth. The researchers tested the women for their blood levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP). The women were then randomly assigned to receive either daily LDA (81 mg) or a placebo.

Among women with low or medium blood levels of hsCRP, Sjaarda's team found no significant difference in birth rates. However, in the high-hsCRP group, the live-birth rate was 44 percent among women on placebo (the lowest overall in the study) but 59 percent among those on LDA. LDA also appeared to reduce hsCRP levels in the high-hsCRP group when those levels were checked at weeks eight, 20, and 36 of pregnancy.

"In women attempting conception with elevated hsCRP and prior pregnancy loss, LDA may increase clinical pregnancy and live birth rates to those of women without inflammation and reduce hsCRP elevation during pregnancy," the authors conclude.